Senate Democrats Not Running Or Already Retired Sit On $52 Million

Senate Democrats who aren’t running for re-election this year and those who have retired were sitting on nearly $52 million in campaign cash at the end of September, even as their party’s candidates are slogging through a difficult electoral cycle.

That untouched pot of money has become a sore subject for Democratic strategists, several of whom privately complained that the lawmakers were risking the Senate majority to protect their own hides. What’s further agitated these strategists is that some Democratic senators who are running for re-election with comfortable leads have also stashed away cash while their colleagues struggle in tight races.

“We all get multiple daily desperate emails begging for money, especially as Democrats are on the verge of losing the Senate,” said one top strategist who, like the others, would only speak about the matter anonymously for fear of retribution. “Meanwhile, some senators are sitting on millions while colleagues like [Georgia candidate Michelle] Nunn and [Iowa candidate Rep. Bruce] Braley are fighting for their political lives and to keep the majority.”

Complaints about the generosity of individual lawmakers are an element of every single campaign. The gripes expressed here have arisen in cycles past; they will in cycles future. What is irksome for party officials, however, is that the situation for Democrats in 2014 is so dire. The electoral map is large and fluctuating, and as the midterm campaigns enter their closing days, operatives want to be running hard in states like Georgia or Iowa without having to take resources away from other close contests. Two officials told The Huffington Post that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), unhappy with the contributions so far, has been pushing his members to give more cash to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The complaints aren’t directed at one individual senator. Several names have come up in conversations. Among them are Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who is sitting on more than $2.37 million in campaign cash even though he is retiring; Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has more than $12.8 million in his campaign account saved for his race in 2016; former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who has more than $9.8 million in his campaign account despite having left office in 2010; and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who had $4.7 million cash on hand at the end of September while facing an easy re-election contest.

“It’s astonishing that 10 days before the election, the No. 2 in Senate leadership is sitting on that kind of money as Democrats get outspent across the country,” said the aforementioned strategist.